In a strong rebuke against the Central Government, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, who boycotted today’s NITI Aayog meeting chaired by the Prime Minister, along with several Chief Ministers of opposition parties, accused the Centre of deceitfully reducing funds for ongoing projects in Tamil Nadu and failing to announce any new projects for the state in the recent budget.

Explaining his decision to boycott the meeting, Stalin denounced the Union Budget 2024 as discriminatory towards Tamil Nadu. “The Modi-led BJP runs the government with a political motive,” he stated.

Stalin described the budget presented by the Union Finance Minister as a vengeful act against states and people opposing the BJP, noting that it seemed crafted to punish those who supported the INDIA bloc. The only special project announced for Tamil Nadu all these years is AIIMS at Madurai. Yet, even after a decade, the project is far from completion.

Despite persistent appeals, the Finance Minister made no announcements addressing Tamil Nadu’s demands. The state had high expectations for funding the second phase of the Chennai Metro Rail Project. This project, for which Union Home Minister Amit Shah laid the foundation stone during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, was supposed to be a joint effort between the state and Union governments at a cost of ₹63,000 crore. However, the Tamil Nadu government is now the sole driver of this project, he remarked.

Stalin criticized the Union Government for delaying funds for three years without contributing any of its own. “When questioned, they claim in Parliament that this is a state-sponsored project. If that’s the case, would they hand over the railway sector to the state government?” he questioned. He also pointed out the Centre’s silence on approving the Coimbatore and Madurai Metro Rail projects, while approving and financially supporting metro projects in smaller cities over the past three years.

Stalin further lambasted the Centre for inadequate disaster relief funds following two severe cyclones in Tamil Nadu. Despite a request for ₹37,000 crore, the Centre released only ₹276 crore from the State Disaster Response Fund, an annual provision. He highlighted the disparity in flood relief allocations, noting that states governed by NDA allies received over ₹10,000 crore in this year’s budget.

The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister also criticized the Centre for withholding funds for the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), stating that the Union BJP Government insisted on releasing funds only if the National Education Policy (NEP) was implemented.

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